


WTCH Volume 1: Secrets

by StrawberryScribe



Category: RWBY
Genre: Age Swap, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Consistent Updates?Ask my Anxiety., Gen, Good Arthur Watts, Good Cinder Fall, Good Emerald Sustrai, Good Hazel Rainart, Good Mercury Black, Good Tyrain Callows, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Plot, Retelling, Role Reversal, Swearing, Tags Are Hard, Tags May Change, Team WTCH, Updates:ThursdayorFriday
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:21:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27733711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrawberryScribe/pseuds/StrawberryScribe
Summary: (The following is a role-swap AU so certain characters in the timeline have been changed but the majority are the same)Follow the four new Beacon alumni Watts, Tyrian, Cinder, and Hazel as they grow not just as people but as a team. Will they be able to navigate through the destiny the world has planned for them or succumb to fear?
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	1. Gold

Gold.

"Don't act like you're the victim's here! You! Never! Were!"

The words the man-the monster with goat horns on his head yelled rang in his ears over and over again. Arthur breathed heavily not knowing how to react to-or even what to do after what he'd seen. He couldn't do anything! That person-no that thing had already-had already. His heart did not want to even have to admit what his eyes had just witnessed. Nothing about his reality was processing for him, except for that color. There was only red-red everywhere. That man was red, his father was red, his mother was red, and even the lights of the room were red. The warning alarm blaring was muffled out in his mind by that single phrase.

_'Don't act like you're the victim's here!'_

The young boy had hidden behind some boxes at the back of the stage that hadn't been put away, the only place he thought was safe. No! Nowhere was safe! Safety was gone! He would never be safe again! Not without-not without. Arthur sniffled again as the tears filled his eyes, the only thing he could possibly do in this situation. 

_'You! Never! Were! You! Never! Were!'_

Then it all stopped. The blaring of the alarms. The red flashing lights. While it did not stop for the rest of the world it stopped for Arthur, because crouching in front of him was his savior in white. She had lept up on stage before anyone else to save him from what monster that had done. She held a sword at her side like the knight Arthur so desperately at that moment. Her face was not cold and stern like before staring down the monster, it was soft as melted snow.

"Hey. It's okay now, he's not gonna hurt you okay? I'm here."

Even though they were just meaningless words, coming from her Arthur felt comforted. She was his hero after all.

"Are you sure? You got rid of him. He's not gonna come back"

His savior bit her lip, the reason why Arthur would be furious out at a later date but did her best to keep up the smile. To keep Arthur calm after everything that had just happened.

"Kid I need you to listen to me and listen hard, he is never going to be able to hurt you. I won't let him do that. In order for me to do that I need you to come with me okay? 

He extended her hand, her silk gloves visibly ripped, for him to grab. A way to get him out. Something he needed after all had been lost. She was his safety net, which he took crying into a hug.

* * *

“Checkmate.”

Just as soon as it felt the game started it had ended, his bishop had snuck up and checkmated her king. Watts could not stop the pearly white smirk from appearing on his face. Miss Schnee’s ice blue eyes studded the board as she traced her pale finger over his marble white pieces for any possible moves that could save her. It was a quality that Watts admired about his mentor, her desire never to give up until the bitter end. Unfortunately, this made playing games with her absolutely annoying. Finally, Miss Schnee conceded and extended a hand for Watts to accept, which he did proudly.

“Well done and stop looking smug. It’s unsportsmanlike and will make people want to punch your teeth out.” 

Over the years Miss Schnee had taught him well, too well. That boy who she had once saved from a helpless fate had grown into a competent young man. He didn't need her help anymore, to get out of tough situations. They were getting ever closer to becoming equals-of course he still had a lot to learn from her but the improvement was ever apparent.

  
  
“No one would dare try to punch me. The lawsuit would be hefty. Besides, don’t I deserve to be proud about winning?” 

When Watts first started playing Miss Schnee felt like the best player in all of Atlas, although he didn’t hold her in such unrealistic regards anymore her skill was still nothing to scoff at. Of course, he was proud-not just about this chess match- but about everything he had been able to accomplish since that day. He had the ability to keep the legacy alive.

“There is a difference between being happy over a victory and seeming to be a twat. Don’t act like you had the entire game under your control, I was one move from taking your king.”

She then demonstrated as she moved her queen up to a position where her apprentice would have no way to get out. He would’ve been checkmated. She always was offensive with her queen, having absolutely no fear in putting her onto the front lines.

“You shouldn’t have let me pick white if you didn’t want me to have the first move. Admit it you’re just shooting yourself for not picking white first.” 

Watts had used the fact she was used to moving first to his advantage. Miss Schnee smiled at him as she sipped some more of her coffee, Watts was personally a tea man himself but he understood the coffee appeal.

“I’m going to miss this. A shame that you’re heading to Beacon, you know, your skill would be greatly valued in Atlas. I’ve already put in a good word with for you to Ironwood, you don’t have to go to Vale.” 

The tone of the conversation shifted to the hanging issue between the two of them. It was apparent from the moment the idea was suggested that his mentor did not agree with Watts going to Beacon, but he knew it was the right decision.

“For the last time I can’t spend my entire life in Atlas, I want to see Vale. Go to the city where my father was raised. Experience more of the world than this literal floating bubble. Nothing you can say is going to change my mind. It’s just a few months and then I’m back. Nobody says I can’t work under you and Ironwood once I graduate Beacon.” 

Miss Schnee let out a sigh at his protests, but there was something more there. His mentor hardly let her frozen exterior down but when she did Watts could tell there was something more to him going to Vale. Both attendants at the table started to talk but were cut off by the usual base ringtone of Miss Schnee’s scroll.

“Look I know I can’t change your mind, I’ve tried enough times already, but please remember that if you ever want to leave my offer is always available.” 

Shooting an all too familiar ‘I have to take this’ look, she left answering the scroll call as she walked away, but this time something felt wrong, Being a Special Operative she was always busy but now it felt like General Ironwood was always calling her away more now than ever before. The forced separation from work did not ease the blow of Watts’ full-on leaving to another country.

“Special Operative Weiss Schnee speaking-”

Watts looked at Miss Schnee’s toppled king. A piece on foreign soil overtaken surprisingly was it an omen or was the young boy simply reading too deeply into things. The only place those answers would be known would be at Beacon.


	2. Purple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyrian Callows is just trying to enjoy an average day In Vacuo without interruptions, spoiler alerts there is an interruption.

Purple.

The City of Vacuo was nothing like the lonely wasted desert outside of its borders. There were people everywhere all doing their best to survive, which unfortunately gave the kingdom of Vacuo an unsavory reputation. Tyrian was one of these individuals. He didn’t consider himself a bad person per se it was all he’d ever known in life. That if he had to choose between saving someone from drowning or himself, to always choose himself. If a Jackalope believes that snow doesn’t exist do you blame the Jackalope or the desert that it’s always known? As much as he loved Vacuo this was exactly why he wanted to run away. He wanted to be like the Huntsmen he read about in his stories or the news, heroes that didn’t have to steal for their next meal just to survive another day. To be a good person who naturally puts others first. He longed for the days when all of this was just a forgotten chapter of this story, the part you skimmed past because it really wasn’t that important overall. Tyrian wasn’t one to ponder on metaphorical sayings he was too busy doing his favorite pastime, reading. What just because a boy grew up in a desert down doesn’t mean he can’t read? There was only one good place to do anything alone in Vacuo's crowded streets, sitting on the rooftops by the plaza. He took a bite of his breakfast, an apple, as he skimmed through a boring section of the book which was nearly impossible with the shouting coming from the marketplace square.

“Are you not happy? You’re not the only one! Vacuo is accepting of our kind but why should they be the only one? What gives Atlas the right to use our kind for their second class labor! Why should they get away with it? Does Mistral really think they’ve pleased us with a pity diversity hiring! Join The White Fang and fight for your kind’s freedom! Help take the fight directly to Vale!

Tyrian scoffed at the remarks. The Faunus, a man with deer horns, had been spouting that White Fang rhetoric all morning. The White Fang was an organization made by Faunus to help Faunus, using controversial means and providing mixed results. It was no surprise the crowd around the shouting was so big, many Faunus moved to Vacuo to escape the prosecution other Kingdoms were so ready to lash out. From his perch, the young man’s keen eyes spotted a wallet being lifted out off a Faunus in the crowd’s pocket, seemingly being grabbed by nothing. Tyrian’s first instinct was to look to the ground and see that planted in the sand coated ground were two very distinct weighted footmarks.

_ ‘Someone was using some sort of invisibly Semblance to pickpocket off of the crowd. I could stop em or enjoy my breakfast. Be a good person or food. Right thing. Food. Ehh it was a boring chapter anyway.’ _

Tyrian looked at the apple and a devilish grin appeared on his face. He studded the ground and found the footprints again and, using the position of the footprint, aimed the apple directly where the man’s chest would be before throwing it at the invisible figure. 

_ Smash _ . The apple hit square and the figure was now covered in apple mesh from the impact, making his-or should I say her-presence known. The marketplace for the first time that morning was quiet which women shaped figure took the confusion to retreat. Not on Tyrian’s watch, he wasted his apple on that pickpocket he wasn’t gonna getaway! He slid off his rooftop perch, his overcoat flowing behind him, bee-lining to block her attempt to run away. 

_ “Hey, you weren’t thinkin of leavin were you?”  _

The young man spat out expecting to successfully stop her but the pickpocket just pushed the kid in front of her to the ground.

_ ‘Don’t know why I didn’t expect that response. She did catch me monologuing.’ _

“Good job there. Real intimidating. I’m shaking.” 

Tyrian looked expecting the sarcastic female voice to be the pickpocket’s but it was not. In his rush to catch up to her, the energetic young man did not notice that a member of the White Fang had also accepted the call of the chase. Her distinguishing features were her auburn hair, tied in a ponytail with a twirl at the end resembling a chameleon’s tail, and freckle like spots on her body that glowed an orange ting, that screamed annoyance, against her light brown skin. 

_ ‘Oh no, she did not just quip at me and expect me to just take it.’ _

He leaped up and bolted after both of them, his natural nimbleness giving him the ability to catch up to the chameleon haired girl staring directly into her light blue eyes. 

“Boo! Did I scare you at that time?”

The girl looked shocked for a second that he had caught up so quickly.

“Color me impressed, maybe if you spent less time trying to show off we would’ve caught her!”

“Oh, this is a ‘we’ now. Didn’t realize we had grown that close so quickly Freckles.”

Her whole body turned an angry red color, with the exception of her freckles and hair turning yellow as she shot an annoyed expression.

“Okay, okay I get the message don’t like nicknames-look out for the stall.”

Tyrian had been interrupted mid-sentence by the figure they were tailing stopping for a second to knock down a stall into the center of the alley to slip them up. Tyrian jumped over it with ease while Freckles looked shocked, even with the warning, nearly moving around the obstacle, falling slightly behind. Her body stopped turning red as she noticed him jump over the stall and his coat lift to reveal his back, after a second her body stopped turning red, aside from her freckles as she sent him an understanding look.

“Uhh, thanks for the head’s up but unless you’re actually gonna help me stop, her leave. I don’t need you getting in the way.”

“Me? Getting in the way? I’m the reason you even know she was stealin anything, to begin with! But since you’ve given me the opportunity, I do have an idea. When she tried to push down the stall she stopped for a second, we can use that as our opportunity to strike.”

The freckles on her face turned to a dark brown as she nodded and took out a metallic handle, flicking it to extend the handle to form a whip with lightning yellow markings on it.

_ ‘Whoa, wait-she can’t be a Huntsmen can she? Definitely beats my knives on style points.’ _

“Once I hit her with this she’ll be stunned. Think you can annoy her enough to make her want to keep us away? You’re definitely good at that the very least.”

“Oh, I don’t know if I’m up for it boss. Such a hard job for me to do.”

He retorted in a clearly sarcastic way before yelling over to the pickpocket.

“Wow an invisibility Semblanace, really says a lot about your personality? Let me spitball for a second if you will-thanks- now let’s see invisibility not being seen seems pretty easy to guess your constantly hiding who you truly are inside-and considering this is Vacuo- you probably also don’t have any parents? Feel free to correct me if you’re wrong but this is classic orphan problem syndrome.”

A stall looked to be in the process of clasping which Freckles took as he chance, charging past Tyrian toward the target and extending her whip to strike the figure. As the whip made contact Freckles pressed something on the handle causing a shock to extend from the whip and the figure to stun in position, deactivating her Semblance in the process. To absolutely no one’s surprise, she was a human which was really her most notable characteristic.

The freckles on Tyrian’s companion’s face turned red as she saw the identity of the figure while tying her up. He walked over to congratulate her.

“Hey, you actually weren’t that bad, for someone that didn’t spot her immediately.”

“As much as I hate to say this you’re good I might not have caught her without your help. Of course, your knife throws could’ve been better. I’m gonna give you the benefit of the doubt because she was invisible.”

“Oh you’re welcome-but you’re giving me too much credit you’re the one with the cool weapon. Now do you have a name or do you secretly like the nickname I gave you?”

He said holding his hand out for a handshake between the two. Ilia looked him up and down, staring at his belt and his back for a tangible moment.

“It’s Ilia, Ilia Amitola, and you can share your name unless you want to be called uhh-uhh.”

As she couldn’t find her words she turned a pale green.

“Need some help? Quipping is an underappreciated art form. Not everyone has the talent.”

“Okay fine maybe it is harder than it looks, doesn’t make you any less annoying.”

He let out a laugh and accepted her handshake.

“The name’s Tyrian. Tyrian ‘that Asshole’ Callows. Best apple thrower in all of Vacuo.” 

“I would honestly not be surprised at this point if that was your actual middle name. Nevertheless, how about I buy you a new apple and we can talk more about what you’re doing with all of this.”

She eyed him head to toe again and the spots on her face turned the same light brown as the rest of her skin looking completely normal, looking human. Tyrian’s back clenched at the realization but before he could spit out a response Ilia took off back in the direction of the rally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for continuing! Fun fact about the prologue: it was written two years ago and it's funny that 'a human women with an invisibility Semblance' was something I made up without knowing May existed. I'm trying to keep a consistent upload schedule of either Thursday or Friday but please be patient! Happy to see all the support for the fanfiction already!


	3. Crimson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Changed a few small details because of the new backstory explored in the newest chapter.

Crimson

The young Maiden strolled into the store's interior which had on display dust crystals that had been cleaned so much that inexperienced customers would confuse them with actual jewelry. The cherry bell chimed her arrival as The Shopkeep, the name everybody called him simply because he never gave it out, and smiled once recognizing her. In the few months, Cinder had been in Vale she had become his most frequent customer, stopping by the store often to add to her outfits. Few independent sellers supplied Dust that produced the same quality as the Schnee Dust Company but From Dust Till Dawn was one of them.

“Good evening, what will it be today? Just got a new shipment of Wind Dust for the new school year. All the Beacon are talking about it.” 

“No, not today I’m just here to pick up some finely grounded Ice Dust. I just received some gloves from a family member that would match wonderfully with the coming winter season.”

She smiled deliberately mentioning as little detail about the ‘family member’ who gifted her the gloves. It had become a habit to keep details of her personal life to herself. He nodded before pointing to a section at the back of the store. 

“The finely ground dust should be in that section over there, yell over if there isn’t enough for you.” 

She thankfully nodded at him and walked off into the rows of high shelves, Cinder never being the taller person being hidden by them. She zigzagged in between the shelves until reaching the very back taking the time to admire both the precise measurements and the diverse variety of Dust types. She raised her hand to grab the Dust before being interrupted by the bell chime through the store, unlike last time there was something more ominous about the chime and the stench of a newly lit cigar did not quell the feeling.

“Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop open this late?"

The man had a silvery charismatic tone to his voice, the type of tone could convince you he ruled the world. Cinder momentarily scolded herself, mistaking this for an innocent customer that her mind had feared the worst but The Shopkeep’s next words did not calm this feeling rising in her chest.

“Please! Just take my Lien and leave!”

“Shush, calm down, we’re not here for your money.”

There was a pause throughout the entire store the sound of a sword being unsheathed leading the charismatic man to speak again.

“Grab the Dust.”

The sounds of goons starting to loot the store’s supply of Dust could be heard from behind the shelves she was behind. She could feel her heart start to race, not with fear like she originally expected but with a determined drive to act.

_‘I can’t just let his livelihood be taken like that! I need to do something!’_

Cinder breathed in as she walked out behind the shelf facing a goon right in front of the store’s door. The goon was wearing a stark black suit with red accent marks on the glasses and tie, despite stealing from this shop he had a decent fashion sense. She extended her right arm in his direction, the yellow lace designs of her red dress flaring an orange color as she focused on the tiny Fire Dust particles within the lace, delicately yet swiftly pulling the Dust from the tread and forming a careful strand. The goon noticed the girl and raised his sword about to yell something at her before being cut off by the lifting of Cinder’s finger as the Dust fired in his direction, firing the goon out the store’s door behind him. 

A moment later a second goon rushed towards her slashing his sword at her face. Cinder ducked down from the attack pointing both of her arms forward, the laces on her arms lighting orange, as she fired two strands of Dust from her arms at his chest firing him into the store’s window. If that pain wasn’t enough, Cinder then jumped out the store’s window purposely being sure to plant her heels firmly on the goon as a cushion to not step on any glass.

_‘Oh-no I didn’t mean to break that-uhh I’ll pay for that later. Might as well make use of the mistake.’_

The remaining three goons and the ringleader looked outside the window to see what she had just done and immediately Cinder recognized the ringleader from the news, notorious Vale crime lord Roman Torchwick. He had on a bowler hat with ginger that had a bang swished to the side to cover his right eye, his green eyes staring at her with a glint of amusement. He wore a long white coat, a gray scarf tied around his neck, and matching black pants and shoes. Cinder’s heels clicked as she walked over towards the middle of the street while stretching her hands behind her head, she would be lying to herself if she said she wasn’t enjoying this. Remembering the glass on the ground she focused on her Semblance allowing her to use the glass to form into a sword, similar to her weapons at home, appearing in her hands while doing her best hero pose.

“Phew wasn’t even that tough! Is that really the best that Roman Torchwick can afford! What you’re paying them that isn’t free, is too much.”

She needed to get them away from the store and was gonna talk all the smack she needed to get that to happen. 

“Okay…”

Roman looked at her with an annoyed quality in his eyes before cocking his head at the other three goons and commanded in an irritated tone.

“Get her!”

As the first goon charged Cinder slashed her sword at his face with the left hand and used her right to lift a bed of glass shards to hit his back, making him collapse onto the ground. The other two started to surround her, nodding at each other before both rushing to slash her.

_‘Bad move guys.’_

Cinder brought her arms together focusing on the particles of Fire Dust sewn within, she waited patiently for them both to get in range, and before the swords could strike she opened her eyes and extended her arms out as a circle of fire blasted the goons away from her, the move depleting a large section of both the Dust sewed in arms. To her surprise, the first goon she threw to the ground charged at her again, clearly expecting to dodge another sword strike. Cinder smirked and slashed the sword in his direction, missing as her left leg kicked him in the shin, making sure the point of the heel made the most impact. The goon started to crunch to the ground and she hit him in the face knocking him square out like the rest.

“Well, Glitter I think we can all say it’s been an eventful evening-” 

Cinder looked up to see Roman dropping his lit cigar to the ground as the sounds of police sirens echoed in the distance. It seems that the young maiden had stalled enough time for the cops after all.

“and as much as I’d love to stick around-”

The man raised his cane in her direction, the front part flipping open to reveal a secret gun component.

“I’m afraid this is where we part ways.”

The cane fired a red shot which Cinder recognized as a Dust round in reaction she lifted her arms in front of her in a protective pose before moving her arms to the side of her to have the Dust cloud blow past her. To her surprise, Roman was no longer in front of her-in fact he was gone altogether as she looked around the street for him.

“Ahem.”

Cinder turned around to see The Shopkeep pointing to a ladder that Roman was climbing to getaway. Cinder turned to The Shopkeep and the two exchanged a silent nod starting to run after him before turning back to the shop.

“Actually get me that Wind Dust, I’m gonna need it.”

After acquiring the Dust Cinder ran over to the ladder, taking out the crystal to quickly propel to the top of the building, doing her best to keep her balance once reaching the top. To her surprise waiting at the top of the building was a Bullhead, a common airship used for cargo, that Roman was jumping into. How was he even to hide a Bullhead on the top of this building?

“Hey! Get back here, I wasn’t finished!”

Roman gave her an extremely annoyed but still turned around leaning on his cane while the Bullhead started to rise. 

“Got to admit it, Glitter, your persistence is adorable but this is the end of the line.”

He quickly stopped leaning on the cane and fired a normal shot at Cinder who easily moved out of the way, making the mistake of not noticing her opponent pull out a large Fire Dust crystal at her, Roman quickly fired the cane at the Dust crystal not giving the inexperienced girl a chance dodge a second time. She closed her eyes trying to do whatever she could to blunt the force of the impact but instead she felt an invisible force yank her body to the edge of the roof away from the crash. She opened her eyes to see a blonde-haired woman wearing a cape with a crown on it, a white long-sleeved top, a black pencil skirt, and long stockings. Roman’s face shifted to a serious one when the women appeared in front of him, then he started to run towards a building with a ladder leading up to the roof. The woman flicked a flimsy wand-like object in her hand causing the debris of the explosion to glow a bright purple color as it wrapped around Roman’s torso and legs, causing him to fall flat on his face. The woman stepped in front of her, pushing up the glasses as her green eyes pierced the look of a parent who was disappointed in Cinder’s direction before. The woman flicked a flimsy wand-like object in her hand causing the debris of the explosion to glow a bright purple color and fired it towards the Bullhead. Roman’s stopped laughing when the women appeared on the roof yelling towards someone in the cockpit and he shifted positions with them, or her.

It was clear now that the women on the roof had to be a Huntress which made Cinder’s heart flutter with excitement. The woman who stepped into the Bullhead was wearing all white, her defining feature being an all-white hood which was tattered and had dark red splotches on it that looked exactly like blood. She also had a very distinct red mask on, white tear-like marks being painted going down the mask’s eyes. The Huntress who saved Cinder locked her gaze at the women in the Bullhead, muttering something under her breath and slightly trembling. 

“Summer…”

That second of hesitation was all the white figure needed and she jumped out of the Bullhead turning in a white splodge of wind as she circled the airship, forming a shield of wind around it. The Huntress was snapped out of the moment and flicked the wand in the direction of the airship, firing multiple purple beams at the Bullhead, but not at the white splodge. The white splodge turned into a figure in the middle of the air extended her hand at the rooftop causing a gust of wind in their direction, The Huntress flicked the wand in both of their directions to prevent them from being blown off the roof. Cinder could almost feel the white figure’s smile as in the air above where they were planted on the ground formed a thunder cloud which struck down lightning in their direction. The Huntress acted fast and telepathically moved them away from the explosion. Cinder looked up to see that both the Bullhead and the white figure disappeared and the Huntress was staring off in the air, her fist clenching.

“So I take it this is a bad time to ask where you got your outfit, it screams badas-powerful women without reading as dominatrix-you know I’m gonna stop talking now.”

“Yes, you should.”

  
_‘Oh Gods Rhodes is gonna kill me.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No one:
> 
> Cinder: I'm gonna have the longest prologue chapter.
> 
> You can't convince me that Ruby wouldn't have a cool supervillain outfit. I wonder if any of you are gonna be able to see the little Neo hint.


	4. Green

Green

A Beowulf charged from the pack to slash its clas at Hazel on his left side, the boy not showing any reaction to the damage, in an attempt to knock him off balance. The large young man continued to plant his feet firmly into the ground of the training arena as he turned his torso to punched the Beowulf that had just attacked him. The electricity surging through his arm destroyed the unarmored Grimm with one hit. Hazel glanced at his Scroll, ensuring to be attentive to the still sizeable Beowulf pack surrounding him, to see what his Aura was at. 

_ ‘Shit.’ _

The damage from the Beowulf, despite being fleshlings, combined with the Lighting Dust Hazel had stuck into his arms have brought him down to half his Aura. His teachers weren’t kidding when they said the Beacon entrance exam was going to be tough. The task was simple enough on paper, defeat a pack of fleshling Beowulfs before your Aura reached fifteen percent, but in execution that task was much more daunting. Unfortunately for these Grimm Hazel was not one to give up just because of a view scratches and seemingly impossible odds.

_ ‘Alright, Haz think. Beowulfs are natural pack fighters that attack all at once, but fleshlings were not smart enough. They typically attack one at a time-‘ _

As if on cue another Beowulf rushed out of the pack from behind and landed on his back, where Hazel couldn’t easily hit him, slashing a claw at his shoulder.

_ ‘Clever boy…or probably just lucky accident.’ _

Hazel quickly wrapped up a solution as he stopped pressing into the ground falling backward onto the Beowulf. The Beowulf quickly left into the air to not get crushed which Hazel used to aim a punch into the air, the electricity flowing through his arm as it shot like an electric projectile destroying the Beowulf into a puff of smoke. Before he had any time to react a Beowulf sped out of the pack, diving on top of Hazel on the ground, chomping its jaws in Hazel’s face. Hazel reached out his hands as he grasps onto the jaws barely holding the creature in place. The Beowulf growled in Hazel’s face some of its spit if it could even be called that, landing on his face. He thrust his arms forwards sending electricity through them shocking the Beowulf as it dissolved just like the last one. 

_ ‘Alright, maybe falling onto the ground was not my BEST move.’ _

Hazel leaped to his feet as he heard a slight  _ ting _ sound coming from his Scroll and sighed, using those attacks put him at less than half Aura.

_ ‘That punch put me at less than half. My punches are strong enough to One-Hit Knockout them but with them attacking me one by one like this I’m gonna run out of Aura. At this rate, I’m gonna lose...if I let them keep attacking one at a time that is.’ _

During lectures to prepare for the exam his teachers would say that there were two ways to approach the test. To defensively let the pack come to you or to offensively go in to attack the horde all at once. This was going to have to be an exception. The glint of the red crystals in his pocket shined in the corner of his eyes.

_ ‘Go big or go home I guess. It’s going to be close.’ _

Hazel reached into his pocket and grabbed the raw Fire Dust sticking it into veins on his arms, the veins now glowing both yellow and red to show the combination of Dust types surging through his arms. If he could feel pain Hazel beat it would be hurting considerably, but he didn’t have time to worry he just had to strike. Hazel ran straight towards the pack punching the first Beowulf he ran into, surging the fire and electricity through it which exploded as the Dust combined from the dissolving Beowulf. The blast from the combination destroying two Beowulfs next to it. 

_ ‘Three down. Nine to go.’ _

Hazel didn’t wait to give the Beowulfs a chance he turned around and aimed his fists at the right and left ends of the training arena punching his arms in the air to hit two Beowulfs on opposite sides of the room and one next to them. Another  _ ting _ came from his Scroll signaling that his Aura was at twenty percent. 

_ ‘Three left. Cutting it way too close.’ _

Hazel jumped towards the center of the training arena, where the final three Beowulfs grouped up and punched the ground sending a Dust surge into the ground to take them out. Hazel immediately went to yank the Dust crystals out of his arms and took out his Scroll to check his Aura. The number on the Scroll read ‘sixteen percent’ one percentage from failing the exam entirely. 

_ ‘Oh my god, I did it. I did it.’ _

“Excellent work! We’re look over your progress and get back to you.”

Hazel turned around to the exit of the training arena to see the man in charge of the exam, Professor Port the Grimm teacher at Beacon academy. The man who knew enough about Grimm to be able to actually catch them for practice use. Hazel had so many questions but he was never one to overly speak, besides he’d have plenty of time at Beacon.

“Okay. Have a good rest of your day.”

Hazel walked out of the training room and was immediately assaulted into a hug from his side, from his sister. The two siblings shared a light brown complexion, amber color eyes, and brown hair, which for Gretchen was shoulder length. Gretchen was wearing a white frilled blouse, a brown corset, and vest with a shoulder strap going across her torso which held extra Dust, and finally painted golden armor pieces on her wrists, knees, and her right shoulder

“So how did you do? Did you beat them all-not that I thought you wouldn’t of course! You totally could’ve done it.”

Hazel laughed as he easily escaped his sister's hug and went to grab a water bottle and towel to wipe the sweat from his brow. He noticed that her staff with two Dust crystals on the end were missing a considerable chunk of the crystal.

“Yeah I did, it was surprisingly hard for a bunch of fleshlings. How did you do?”

Hazel questioned focused the conversation onto his sister’s well being instead of his own.

“Oh fine enough with the help of my Semblance,  _ no surprise there _ .”

The second part of the sentence she mumbled but was still noticeable to Hazel, who simply mistook it as sarcasm. He was about to comment on how there was no reason to be worried that morning but the doors of the locker room opening interrupted him.

“See ya in a couple of minutes Merc!”

A girl yelled, to someone outside in the waiting room, slightly startled by the two of them being there at all. She was a young thin woman with  medium-brown skin and dark-red eyes, her mint-green hair pulled into a ponytail. She wore simple enough clothes for Huntress gear which indicated she was most likely from outside the Kingdom. Unsurprisingly, Gretchen waved to her as she dragged Hazel out of the room and yelled something in the girl’s direction.

“Good luck on getting into Beacon!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definitely had trouble writing this Hazel chapter just because of how many ideas I had for it. I'm not lying when I say there were 4 different versions of this script. Anyway, get ready for Christmas for a special double chapter week since last week I didn't have one. Also, Hazel is not supposed to be the best fighter at this point in the story. He is gonna make some mistakes and not be as good as other more experienced fighters.


	5. The Next Step

The Next Step-W

For many of the newly arriving students, transportation to the school was an exciting first-time experience being on an airship. Watts had been on enough of them with Miss Schnee that it had the same allure as riding in a car. Still, it was amusing watching the few Vacuo students enamored or wary of the feeling of flying in the air. Observing others was a skill the young man had picked up during financial meetings or parties when he had gotten bored. Reading others was a useful enough skill for fighting that he had started to hone, along with the charming quality of watching the Marigold family try to keep their clearly crumbling family hidden or a Faunus try not too flustered serving the guests before Klein would swoop in to save them from embarrassment. The majority of the students were from Vale or trying to blend in with the simplistic style of the culture, nothing of the formalities of upper Atlas. Through the focus of scanning the ship, his attention to the droned out sounds of the news immediately drawn to the news until when one group’s name was uttered.

“In other news, this Saturday's FCRO protest turned dark when members of the White Fang  disrupted the ceremony.”

On impulse clenched his fist on the side of his holster which held his pistol and let out a light scoff at the mention of the failed protest. The event that happened all those seven years ago along with the bonus of growing up in Atlas did not allow for Watts to gain a particularly favorable perception of the Faunus and their causes. The White Fang was a terrorist group of criminally insane Faunus supposedly ‘justifiably defending’ fighting for their rights. Everywhere the White Fang was involved just proved in Watts’ mind that everywhere they went the Faunus caused more harm than actual good for both human and Faunus kind. He knew from his research that there were some small instances of the White Fang in Vale but he had assumed they were cases of the FCRO being mistaken for the group. The FCRO, the Faunus Civil Rights Organization, was a subsect of the White Fang that defected after the group made its violent debut seven years ago.

_ ‘Could the rumors about the FCRO still having ties to the White Fang be true? Unlikely, why would they invade a protest that a section of their group was supporting? Unless they were trying to maintain face? They. Can’t. Be. Back.’ _

Then as quickly as the name sent a dictionary worth of concerns to the surface it was pushed under by the sound of a response to his initial scoff at the mention of the rally.

“Yeah I know right? What else were they expecting.”

Watts turned to see a very clearly trained to fight individual with his brown hair glossed from so much gell that it rivaled Jacques Schnee and blue eyes, with a brazen attitude, that matched with his own directly which was noticeably unusual for Watts to find someone as tall as himself. 

“I don’t believe I understand?”

Watts responded in his best attempt to reassemble after the mention of the Fang to which he responded as quickly as the question left his lips.

“The Faunus ‘rights’ protest. Obviously it’s just a ploy to cause humans fear over something that shouldn’t be our business, especially with the terrorist attack.”

Watts couldn’t help but smile in the man’s direction, the two having similar enough views on the threat of the Faunus rights groups.

“I must say, you responded to that remarkably fast. Take it you’re used to debating this sort of debacle?”

“Oh yeah, name’s Cardin Winchester. Graduated top of my class at Combat School.”

As soon as that introduction happened everything about the conversation, along with his muscles, made sense, he was a Winchester. Even more obvious was his attempt to sell himself to the most obvious Atlesian in the room. 

_ ‘Smart I must at the least say, especially if he knows about my past. The Winchesters truly do not mess around.’ _

“Arthur Watts, although it’s just Watts, I’ve heard a lot about the Winchesters from my teacher, her grandfather and yours were good friends. Pleasure is mine to meet one in the flesh, no less attend school with one.”

This is exactly what Watts was hoping for when attending Beacon, forming the meaningful connections that would impact his future. Cardin was just the being of it all, even if their meeting was essentially the start of a job interview.

“Wait, good friends? Who were they? I might recognize them from the funeral service.”

A chill down Watts’ spine at just how naturally he mentioned the funeral of his grandfather, to bring up the death of a family member so brazenly.

_ ‘I guess it would be easier with a grandparent. Your heart can start to prepare.’ _

Before the Schnee name card could be pulled the hologram depicting the protest news switched to the recognizable appearance of Glynda Goodwitch, which the two boys turned their attention to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I definitely need to stop making promises that are gonna stress me out. Had to take a hiatus to deal with burn out and writers block as well as finalize out the structure of Volume 1. Hope you guys the chapter after the wait! Super excited to explore more of Watts’ past and character.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading the story! I hope you enjoy and continue reading! I have a lot of fun things planned!
> 
> I do intend to develop a somewhat consistent upload schedule but don't be surprised if I take a break for a bit! This originally was a fanfition.net fanfic but I honestly felt unmotivated by the FFN method of uploading stories and enjoy the Ao3 way better! Please don't go looking to read the FFN fic because I hate it. I've evolved much as a writer since 2017 and also the way I'm formatting the story is completely different so the prologues aren't even really accurate to the story anymore. Especially Tyrian's!


End file.
